Life as a Quatro Intern

Summarising my university placement experience at Quatro in just a few short paragraphs has been no small task. How do you condense an entire six months into what is effectively the blurb of a book? This isn’t a case of describing ‘a day in the life’ as no two days have been the same. Aside from monitoring the media every morning, I could be working on entirely different projects from one hour to the next. As Quatro's resident intern, my role essentially consisted of doing my bit to help the company wherever I possibly could. There are far too many stories of interns and placement students being used as personal errand-runners. Whilst I never expected to play a major client facing role in any projects as an intern, I can honestly say that I was relied upon to undertake tasks that actually felt meaningful and contributed to the Quatro’s client work.

My colleagues at Quatro have genuinely treated me like a member of the team and trusted me to become more involved in projects as my understanding of the sector grew. This did not solely involve politics and public affairs, due to the wide-ranging nature of Quatro’s work. Colleagues have helped me wrap my head around the jargon-filled and regulation-packed world of planning and development at every level, from preparing research to inform strategy proposals, preparing for Public Exhibitions and analyzing feedback as part of a Statement of Community Involvement. It was this kind of work that gave me a newfound appreciation for how communities and societies are formed.

I move to a different country every year or two as a young child due to my parents’ work. When I settled in the UK for my university studies, my perception of domestic politics was that only a certain part of the population could participate in the country's political workings. My six months at Quatro have taught me otherwise. If the interest, motivation and curiosity is there, then anyone can take part in the political discussion in one way or another. Through my time at Quatro, this motivation and interest has been instilled in me. It’s impossible not to get wrapped up in it all when it just never seems to stop changing. Who needs reality television when you have real-life political drama?

I am so grateful to have been given the chance to continue my time at Quatro even during my final year of university, working my hours around my lectures and assisting the rest of the team wherever and whenever I’m wanted. I would argue that this arrangement somewhat sums up what it’s been like to work here. I don’t feel as though I have necessarily worked for Quatro; I feel as though I have worked with Quatro, and Quatro has worked with me.